The first few weeks of the school year are always hectic with students busily adapting to a new grade and new teachers. It’s during this time that the grade 7 and 8 students of IHMS hold their annual elections to select a new student council president and vice-president.
Junior high students interested in a position of either president or vice-president must first of all be nominated by their peers. Once nominated, they can begin their campaign.
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| Grade 7 student council vice-president posters on display in the upstairs hallway |
| Campaigning typically begins and ends during the second week of school. This year, ballots were cast on Friday, September 14th. Other than a short speech by the grade 8 students running for president, campaigning consisted mainly of putting up election posters in the upstairs hallway. |  |
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| A campaign poster for a grade 8 student running for student council president |
There were fewer posters throughout the upstairs hallway this year compared to previous years. There was only one campaign poster for student council president. In fact, some of the candidates didn’t use election posters at all. However, a few candidates spent a lot of time and effort making interesting and creative posters.
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| A professionally made grade 7 student council vice-president poster |
The student council consists of:
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Every junior-high student is given the chance to cast two votes – one for president and one for vice-president |
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The duties of the student council are to plan Spirit Days (along with the grade 8 teacher, Mrs. Walton), to help out at special events, to represent the students at special functions, and to help with various fund-raising activities.
On the day of the election, the 2 candidates for president Anton A. and Bhavika S.) gave a short speech about what they plan to do if elected president. This is a test of each candidate’s ability to give a speech – they really don’t have the power to make changes of any kind as president. However, they can make suggestions that can lead to change.
The speeches took place in the grade 8 classroom in front of the rest of the junior-high students. The ability to deliver a speech is an important part of the selection process because the candidate who is elected president is obligated to give several speeches throughout the year at various special functions (such as the grade 8 graduation dinner).
| Immediately after the speeches, the junior-high students went back to their classes to vote. After careful tabulation, the results of the vote were announced: |  |
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| Student council president:
Anton A. |
Student council vice president:
Julian B. |